Gesteinsschichten, Tasthaare, Damenmoden: Epistemologie des Vergleichens zwischen Natur und Kultur – um und nach 1800

Abstract This paper investigates comparison as a fundamental practice within the early life sciences. Four episodes are selected that show how comparing species works in the early 19th century and how it builds bridges between scientific and literary culture: comparing living organisms in pre-Darwinian natural history (Lacépède, Treviranus), comparing species distribution in actualistic geology (Lyell), comparing organs in comparative anatomy (Müller), and – last but not least – comparing social classes in new literary genres such as sketch, ‘Paris physiology’, or travel feuilleton.